Brendan Rodgers: Liverpool should have had a penalty against Blackburn

Both sides will be included in tonight's semi-final draw following yesterday's 0-0 draw at Anfield which means a replay on either April 7 or 8 at Ewood Park.

Liverpool manager Rodgers claimed Adam Lallana should have had a penalty following a challenge from Blackburn defender Matthew Kilgallon in the first-half, but was not too despondent by the stalemate.

"I thought that was a clear penalty," said Rodgers. "The others were debateable. We probably needed that bit of luck to get the game opened up.

"If we had scored in that opening 20 minutes the game might have been different, but I need to give big credit to my players, on the back of a tough week of games.

"The objective was to get four points from six over the course of Man City and Burnley matches after travelling to Turkey and we got six.

"The objective in this game was to make sure we were in the hat for the semi-final. We didn't quite win it but we are still in there to reach the semi-final.

"For the last three months we have been in outstanding form. The physical and mental energy we put into games is at such a high level, but today we just lacked that bit of sharpness physically."

Blackburn manager Gary Bowyer hailed his players after seeing Craig Conway and Alex Baptiste come close to breaking the deadlock.

"Full credit to the players," said Bowyer. "They were magnificent and restored a bit more pride.

"Our players were pleasantly delighted to see so much grass on the pitch at Anfield.

"At Ewood it is not like that. Brendan was complaining about the pitch here. Wait until he sees Ewood. It makes this look like Wembley.

"Our chances in the replay will be the same. We might have one or two back. We are down to the bare bones."

Rodgers, meanwhile, said Martin Skrtel was "fine" after the defender was taken to hospital as a precaution after being taken off on a stretcher after landing awkwardly following a challenge with Blackburn's Rudy Gestede.

"He is fine but he will go to the local hospital to make sure. If he had his choice he wouldn't but we have to follow procedure," added Rodgers, who said captain Steven Gerrard would be fit for the trip to Swansea a week on Monday after missing seven matches with a hamstring injury.